We celebrate National Voter Registration Day and the Clayton County Office of Elections and Registration efforts to ensure you are informed about who, what, when, where, why and how to register to vote and cast your ballots.

 

Transcript

Valerie Fuller (intro):
You’re tuned in to the Clayton Connected Podcast in Clayton County, where the world lands and opportunities take off.

Valerie:
Welcome to the Clayton Connected podcast. I’m your hostess Valerie Fuller, Communications Administrator for the Office of Communications in Clayton County government. Today we have a very special guest in our studio. His name is Mr. Isaac Green. Please welcome Isaac.

(cheering sound effect)

Valerie:
Hi, Isaac.

Isaac Green:
Hi, Valerie. Thank you so much for having me.

Valerie:
He is our community outreach specialist for the Board of Elections and Registration. So we’re talking about a very hot topic right now. Today we are addressing National Voter Registration Day. Mr. Green, tell us what it is.

Isaac:
All right, so National Voter Registration Day, one time of year on September 17th, we have the opportunity to partner with, a lot of organizations, hundreds of organizations who are doing voter registration drives across the country. So we’re excited to get to be a part of that and host our, series of voter registration drives across the county.

Valerie:
So with that, when he says across the county, we really mean across and around the county. We’re holding voter registration drives at which locations?

Isaac:
So, we strategically placed 14 locations, all throughout all four districts of Clayton County. So, we’re going to be hosting those drives at senior centers, at recreation centers, at libraries, as well as our office, the Office of Elections and Registration at the Jonesboro Historical Courthouse.

 

Valerie:
On September 17th at those locations, the libraries, the senior centers, the recreation centers, the senior centers, those hours are going to be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., correct?

Isaac:
Yes, ma’am. From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., we’ll have some of our poll workers that’ll be dispatched. They’re going to be serving the communities with some of the materials that we typically take out when we’re doing outreach events. They’ll have your voter registration forms. They’ll have absentee ballots, applications by mail as well as a bunch of important dates for the upcoming November 5th election.

Valerie:
So with that, one of the things we want people to know, you must have certain things when you come to actually register. What is it that citizens will need to register?

Isaac:
Absolutely. So for, someone who’s registering for the first time, they’ll need to bring a current Georgia ID or driver’s license, because now we’re required to sign, to add the full driver’s license number as well as the last four digits of their social. They’re going to need, a current Clayton County address in order to register to vote tomorrow.

Valerie:
So that’s your current license, ID. You also mentioned, previously we were talking about students. What about students? What would they need?

Isaac:
So students, they’re able to bring a, public Georgia student ID in order to register to vote.

Valerie:
And if by chance you’re not able to register, or if you have it already registered to vote, there are actually four other locations throughout the year that you can actually register to vote. Which locations are those?

Isaac
Yes, ma’am. So, anyone in Clayton County can go to a Clayton County public library. You can attend a city hall and register there. You can come to the Jonesboro Historical Courthouse, where the Office of Elections and Registration is, as well as going online and submitting a form to actually register online remotely.

Valerie:
One of the most important things, I think to note for our citizens, especially when it comes to voter registration, is that although National Voter Registration Day is one day, September 17th, you can do this throughout the year. You guys are active in the elections and registrations office at churches senior Center schools. Talk to us about that and what that looks like throughout the year and what materials are supplied.

Isaac:
Absolutely. So, we have the amazing opportunity to be invited to so many people’s events and churches, like you said. They host these voter registration drives and they express so much excitement regarding getting people registered to vote so it’s always a good opportunity to be in that environment where we can give information. We provide current dates, we provide voter registration forms for people who are kind of leery about voting in person. We provide the absentee ballot by mail where they can apply for that, submit that into our office, and they’ll receive a ballot when it comes time for, for voting. We also provide resources such as the My Voter page where people can go and check their status on their own.

Valerie:
That’s very important that website is mvp.sos.ga.gov. That’s the My Voter page. What will they see once they get to the my voter page?

Isaac:
So the my voter page is a very useful tool. It shows their address so they can ensure that it’s up to date. It also shows their precinct. So on voting day, so in this case November 5th, it shows where you’re able to go in and cast your ballot. Cast your vote. It also shows your registration number in case you need that. When you get to the polling location.

Valerie:
What about if our citizens need to update their information? I think it’s really important that we clarify what’s needed in reference to their address. We know that you can update the address on the My Voter page, but tell me specifically what they’ll need at the voter registration site once they get there.

Isaac:
Yes, ma’am. So, when it comes to actually voting on, Election Day, they’re going to have to have something that has their current ID. So, a piece of mail, a bank statement, a utility bill or anything that has that full name as well as their current address.

Valerie:
One other thing I want to point out about the elections that are upcoming. We mentioned the absentee ballot. I want to talk about the timeline for absentee ballots and why that’s so important.

Isaac:
Yes, ma’am. So, with the absentee ballots you have, up until now, all the way until October 25th to apply for an absentee ballot. You can do that online. You can submit that form and then fax it into our office. You can also attend one of our voter registration drives, fill out that form submitted there in a secure lockbox, and we bring that in so that you can be eligible to vote by mail. Now, that’s an option for people who are disabled, who are elderly, and even people who just feel like they don’t really want to stand in those long lines on Election Day.

Valerie:
So many different ways, so many different opportunities. Of course, the Clayton County Board of Elections and Registration is working, their office is working very hard to make this information available to the public. You can also go to the Clayton elections website.

Isaac:
Yes, ma’am. So, our website is claytonelections.com. There you’ll see all of our upcoming dates, important newsletters and things like that, as well as the dates as it pertains to the November 5th election, such as the registration deadline that we mentioned October 7th. Absentee applications, they should be submitted by October 25th and it’s just a good tool to be able to keep in touch with the Clayton County Office of Elections and Registration.

Valerie:
Now, Mr. Green, you know, I hope you’re listening. Well, that he’s given us some good information. We also want to talk to you about early voting. You don’t just have to wait until Tuesday, November 5th for the actual election day. Tell us about the early voting, hours and the early voting dates.

Isaac:
Absolutely. So early voting is open from October 15th all the way into November 1st. Clayton County has 12 sites that are available for early voting. So, any resident of Clayton County can go to any of these 12 sites from October 15th to November 1st and cast their votes. This is a very, very good option for people who don’t want to wait until Election Day. Some people are really ready to go right now.

Valerie:
I’m one of them. I’m one of if I could vote today, I would.

Isaac:
And we’ve also had people come up to our tables when we’re hosting our drives. And they ask, can we vote here today? We have to tell them, no. This is just for registration, but there are a lot of people who are excited to be able to exercise their right to vote. And our office, we pride ourselves on the ability to protect and defend that right. So as there are upcoming and changing laws and things like that, we make sure that it’s our duty that we ensure that every voter has the right to cast their vote in a fair and just process.

Valerie:
We are super excited for all the information that you shared. We’re going to encourage everyone to cast their votes in the upcoming election. Just want to go over those dates one more time. We know that the voter registration day, official voter registration day is September 17th from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. that’s at recreation centers, libraries, senior centers. What else do we want to mention?

Isaac:
So, you can also see those exact locations on our website at claytonelections.com. There’s and a flyer that was just updated that has those 14 locations. So, we want to mention that from now until October 7th voter registration is still going on. You’re able to register to vote so anyone who is 17.5 you’re able to register to vote if you’re going to be 18 on November 5th, on or by November 5th. You can vote in the November 5th election. So that’s exciting for some of our high school students in the county who they may have just had a birthday, or they’re ready to vote for the very first time.

Valerie:
The very first time. That’s exciting in itself. I remember voting for the very first time.

Isaac:
Yeah.

Valerie:
Yeah. So thank you so much. Mr., Isaac Green.

(Cheering)

Valerie:
We appreciate you, and we look forward to having you back here on the Clayton Connected podcast soon.

Isaac:
Thank you so much.

Valerie (Outro):
I’m your hostess Valerie Fuller. Thank you for listening to the Clayton Connected podcast in Clayton County, Georgia. Where the world lands and opportunities take off.